Email Software Articles

CAN-SPAM Act- When dealing with email marketing it is very important that you understand there are rules to follow. Those restrictions are a result of the CAN-SPAM Act. Keep reading our CAN-SPAM law article to find out what is allowed under CAN-SPAM Act.

What is the CAN-SPAM Act? The CAN-SPAM Act was put into place to establish guidelines and penalties for commercial email use. In addition, the CAN-SPAM Act sets guidelines on how recipients of commercial emails can demand the stoppage of commercial emails. One thing you will notice is that we didn't use the bulk when talking about the type of emails. This law applies to all commercial emails. That in itself effects more people that just bulk email.

What is commercial email? Instead of paraphrasing the definition of commercial email, here is the legal definition of commercial email: "Any electronic mail message where the primary purpose of which is the commercial advertisement or promotion of a commercial product or service." There are no exceptions provided in this legal definition so it applies to every business and person.

What the rules of the CAN-SPAM Act? There are seven main issues discussed in the CAN-SPAM Act. Those issues are the following:

1. Don't use false or misleading header information. This includes the "To", "From" "Reply-To," and routing information on every commercial email. Everything has to be legit and verifiable should a check be conducted.
2. Don't use deceptive subject lines. The subject line must accurately describe the content of the email. It is very important that you don't falsify the content of the subject line just to get somebody to read the email.
3. Identify the message as an ad. While there is some wiggle room in this area, you must make it clear to the recipient that the email they received is an advertisement.
4. Tell recipients where you're located. This goes back to the issue that your email must be verifiable should somebody check on it. You must include your physical address in every commercial email.
5. Tell recipients how to opt out of receiving future email from you. People's feelings sometimes change and they might wish to no longer receive emails from you. You must give them an option of not getting your emails in the future. Two common ways this is done by having them click on a link within the email which then removes them from your email distribution list or having them reply to your email stating they don't want to be on your email distribution list.
6. Honor opt-out requests promptly. Any opt-out mechanism you offer must be able to process opt-out requests for at least 30 days after you send your message. You must honor a recipient's opt-out request within 10 business days. You are not able to charge any fees related to this nor can you ask for any personal information during this process. Additionally, once you have knowledge that somebody doesn't want to be on your email distribution list and you remove them, you may not sell, give, or transfer their email address to another company. The only exception is that you may transfer the addresses to a company you've hired to help you comply with the CAN-SPAM Act.
7. Monitor what others are doing on your behalf. Simple enough. You as the business owner are liable for what your employees know. You must keep an eye on what people are doing for you.

What is the penalty for violations of the CAN-SPAM Act? Each violation of the CAN-SPAM act is punishable by a fine of up to $16,000. That is per email and more than one person can be held accountable. In addition to fines you can potentially face custody time if you are found to have violated any of the following:

• Accessing someone else's computer to send spam without permission
• Using false information to register for multiple email accounts or domain names
• Relaying or retransmitting multiple spam messages through a computer to mislead others about the origin of the message
• Harvesting email addresses or generating them through a dictionary attack
• Taking advantage of open relays or open proxies without permission

As you can see it is very important to follow the strict guidelines of the CAN-SPAM Act when dealing with commercial emails.

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